by Beverlee
Axel broadcast over his comm, “I hate to say this, but it looks like five cyborgs and four clones
are getting ready to have a meeting in the Galaxy Club.”
“My question is, who’s conducting the meeting?” Maeve asked. “From what we know, cyborgs
don’t speak. Clones seem intellectually limited. So, who’s in charge?”
“My guess is the Parkers—Königs. At least one of them, anyway. A decision needs to be made.
Is this a recon mission? Or are we going to take them down? If we do and Mars finds out, there
will be hell to pay. I’ll be behind bars. You could get court-martialed. We’re in their space—on
their Station. Plus, we haven’t even made it planetside yet to see what might be hiding down there.
“I agree. Except I’m not leaving these simple-minded teenagers under the control of metal
mercenaries, or the Parkers—”
Axel’s tablet vibrated, as did the others with a broadcast message from Petra: “Stand Down.
Direct orders from General Dimitrios. All personnel are recalled to your ships.”
“Petra,” Axel snapped, “inform the general we have confirmed visuals on five cyborgs and four
clones in a bar called the Galaxy Club on Deck 2 of the space station.”
In less than half a minute, Maeve received a message from Major Essex with orders from
Dimitrios to assign troops for recon, but for Maeve to report to her ship. “Balls,” she muttered.
“Get your people back to the ship. I’ll take care of things here before I leave. No doubt Dimitrios
wants a vid conference.”
***
Three Terrans entered the MAVREK-II in a rotten mood, grumbling about the lost opportunity
to at least monitor the cyborg’s movements, if not capture the entire group, including the Parkers.
Mark rushed through the ship to the conference room. “Petra…”
Her head snapped up as if she’d been dozing. “Sir?”
“Is there any way we can view what the Station surveillance has on Deck 2?” Mark asked,
sliding into the captain’s chair at the head of the table.
“You mean can I hack into the Martian Space Station’s Secure Surveillance System?”
“No, I just thought you could ask it to please share with us what it’s looking at.”
Petra stifled a yawn, lowered her head behind the large screen, and tapped at an increasing pace.
Ohashi appeared with a fresh carafe of coffee. She walked behind Petra, bending over to watch
for a couple seconds, then went to her screen to join the project.
Kamryn brought in a tray with a mound of chocolate chip cookies. They congregated at the
table for coffee and cookies while the cybers invaded the station’s security systems.
The quiet was shattered by the pinging of everyone’s tablet.
A dispatch from Major Essex stated Colonel Sorayne hadn’t returned to her ship. She, along
with Sergeants Nelson and Wong, also on the recon detail, were missing. Also, none of their
geolocator chips were responding. His message ended with a warning that under no circumstances
would any civilian involvement be tolerated in the search for their TMD personnel.
When Axel made a run for the entry hatch, Mark followed on his heels, in hopes he could stop
him from making a stupid move.
The three soldiers who’d performed escort duty earlier in the day were standing guard inside,
with their backs to the hatch, guns drawn.
Griffin stood as point man, in front of the other two. “Sir, I know your reputation. I’ve also
heard what you’re capable of. But, I’m not going to wind up in the stockade because I failed to
shoot you when you disobeyed a direct order from Major Essex.”
Mark approached Axel from the side, careful not to make any sudden moves. “Axel, remember
Portland? You stopped me when I damn near decked the spy. I’m here to do the same for you.”
Axel looked at Mark with a mixture of helpless rage written on his face. Mark recognized those
feelings. He’d experienced the same ones when a cyborg nearly killed his father.
Kamryn circled around from the other side. “Von Radach, we need you in the conference room.
Now.”
Months ago, during his H2H combat training with Axel and Kamryn, both his instructors at the
time, Mark had been the recipient of her sergeant’s voice. But he’d never heard Kamryn use it on
Axel. It was unnerving.
Time stood still as Mark watched his friend fight an inner struggle. Axel radiated anger like a
volcano that was seconds away from erupting. His olive complexion darkened with rage, hands
white-knuckled into fists. Gradually, the resentment faded. Axel look drained in the aftermath.
“Come on,” Mark said, touching his shoulder, “let’s go see what Petra has for us.”
Kamryn cautiously took his other arm as they turned Axel away from certain catastrophe,
leading him back through the ship.
Eva waited in the doorway. “We have the surveillance vid queued up.” She caught Mark’s
attention, mouthing “lock the door.”
His heart missed a beat. Shit. This can’t be good. He did as she’d asked, but a locked door
wouldn’t have slowed Axel down before his augmentation, now it wouldn’t even cause him to
blink. Mark stayed there, leaning against it with his arms crossed. With a friend in the way, it might
give him time to think. No, probably not. Mark steeled himself for whatever was to come.
“This begins after you left Deck 2.” Ohashi whipped one screen around for them to view. The
cybers watched the other.
The first camera angle showed the Galaxy Club, with people walking past on the concourse.
Sorayne, accompanied by two men in civilian clothes traveled away from the club. A second
camera farther down picked up the same three moving along, until they reached a store called
Phobos Electronics. One man stumbled. His companions tried to render aid. Two people from the
store emerged to help the disabled man. Everyone entered the store. The business lights went black.
No one came out. Nothing more.
Axel didn’t move. “What’s the time stamp on this footage?”
“Twenty-seven minutes ago,” Ohashi answered.
“Who owns the store”
“Victor Parker.”
“Who owns the Galaxy Club?”
“Valerie Parker.”
“Why didn’t we know this before?”
“Because hacking into an encrypted Martian Security System isn’t easy. If you can do it
quicker, be my guest.”
“I’m sorry, Ohashi. I apologize.”
“You’re forgiven.”
Mark tried to relieve the tension. “How many businesses do they own on this station?
Giving Ohashi a break, Petra answered. “These two—and the bakery.”
“How many on the planet?”
“None.”
“Have any ships or shuttles departed since Maeve went missing?”
“None.”
Mark stared at the screen. “Can we get a close up on the faces of those two people from the
store?”
Petra reversed the file to the appropriate spot. She tapped the screen, rotated and enlarged it,
until a sizable image appeared.
Mark left his place at the door to get a closer look at the screen. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the
Parkers.”
Please see Edge Of the Stars: A TechoThriller on Amazon for the rest of the story.
